Space Studies Program 2017

26 June - 25 August 2017hosted by the CIT, Cork, Ireland.

The International Space University (ISU) provides graduate-level training to the future leaders of the emerging global space community. The Space Studies Program (SSP) is a nine-week program that covers the main space related fields. SSP celebrates its 30th anniversary this year.

Wow, 8 weeks of our Team Projects have gone by really fast, we here in the Future of the International Space Station team project are busy getting our teeth into potential future missions for the International Space Station after 2024. There are almost 30 use from 15 different countries and many more backgrounds - how on Earth (pun intended) are we going to get this done?

Well we have indeed come up with some interesting ideas: would you rather have a space hotel? Or a space mining processing plant? The possibilities are endless!

Over the last 8 weeks we have spent countless hours looking at a wide range of info on the ISS, how was it built? What are some of the great political feats that were pulled of to make it happen? Then we clustered our ideas, refining them and asking some expert opinions. Chit chatting with astronauts Yi So-yeon and Bob Thirsk gave us some great first hand experiences about floating around in space and it definitely sounds like something that Humans should keep doing!

Berlin-based Mexican artist Nahum was one of the panelists on the Arthur C. Clarke Panel. This panel celebrates the intersection of space and popular culture in the same way that Arthur Clarke's works popularized space to the general public. This panel invites practitioners from different cultural areas to share how space has inspired their work. Clarke also led a workshop entitled ‘After Federov' which encouraged participants to think about alternative rationales for space missions, to let go of conventional thinking and go beyond the limitation of existing concepts and ideals to create their own personal space programs. Participants presented many interesting ideas including a love story as a space rational, peace, the quest to live forever and a dream to go to visit Titan.

Rockets, balloons, rovers... These are a few of the many exciting activities of the International Space University’s 30th Space Studies Program (SSP) held in collaboration with partner institution, Cork Institute of Technology (CIT). The highlight among them all has got to the most tangible of them all.. Rockets!! The word rocket is all it takes to get the public on their feet and yes, off the ground too!

How’s a week in the life of a Space Studies Program Teaching Associate? Well, no two weeks are the same, but this newly released footage from week two of SSP17 might give you a unique new perspective. Petter Evju Skanke, the Teaching Associate for the Space Humanities Department, brings you along on a few of his highlights from last week. See what he got up to!

Well, it has been very busy week of working here in the SSP17 as a TA and now I have the opportunity to tell you what this amazing program did in my life. It is pleasure for me to share with all of you my story.

To be part of this space world belongs I believe something related with your personality. Yes, like you, I was as well fascinated with the Star War movie, scientific books, among others, which was quite unusual for a girl born in a very small city in the middle of nowhere in Brazil, where people normally had your work, family and went to the Catholic Church.

But I wanted much more than to be in a small city. I wanted to discover the world, to go the Moon!! I was lost in which career to follow. I loved math so I decided to follow computer science but in the middle of my preparation to the University I changed to Law. Well, this does not matter! At the end I became a space lawyer.

How incredible it is to realize that the first week of ISU’s Space Studies Program is already over. With so many events happening over the past week here in Cork, Ireland, we didn’t even realize there have been 19 core lectures, numerous team project activities, and fundamental workshops. Also, we have shared this amazing time with three extraordinary astronauts all in “one single week!” As one of the SSP teaching associate’s said: “this is the better way to spend the summer.” In addition, to the mind-blowing talks from astronauts Dan Tani, Jeff Hoffman and Soyeon Yi, their lectures were given in front of a giant moon sculpture titled, “Museum of the Moon!” It was completely mindblowing!

The staff decided to set the pace for the cultural nights by organizing an intercultural night of food and interesting presentations about the different cultures represented in the staff population.

As the only African and Nigerian, I decided to make proud my cultural heritage by cooking a delicious popular west African meal. Caleb magnanimously offered to drive me to do the shopping even when I didn't know where I was going.

Funnily enough what really touched me at the official Opening Ceremony of the ISU SSP Space Studies Program 2017 was the parade of participants carrying their national flags. I had my reservations about the parade to be honest. Isn’t ISU SSP all about bringing people and cultures together? Why ask the participants to present themselves by means of their national symbols? Also: playing national anthems and carrying flags, isn’t that a bit top heavy?

It is Tuesday morning at four o'clock in the morning and our facial expressions are easy to decipher: Our faces are a mixture of fatigue, smile, and enthusiasm! Like every day we’ve experienced since we've been here, it's impossible to predict what our day will be.

We don't know who we're going to meet, what stories we're going to hear, or all the incredible things we're going to learn. Although these factors are completely uncertain, one thing is certain: the day will be enriching and surprising!

Struggling with all the names – for a little while

On Saturday 25 June the more than 110 participants of this year’s ISU SSP arrived in Cork from 26 countries worldwide. To make them feel welcome and to get them geared up for their intensive 9-week pressure-cooker program on space, ISU’s Space Studies Program (SSP17) they were treated to a welcome diner, a participant and staff introduction, brunch, instructions sessions and an open-top tour of the city. How are they settling in? Michael: “Great, but I am still struggling a bit with the names.”

So this week was the first week of Departmental Activities here at SSP17. HPS started it off with quite a bang. After covering Medical Care in Space we went ahead and performed one of our Professional Visits for our activity "Train Like an Astronaut".

We went to the National Maritime College of Ireland, which is the leaders in Maritime training in Ireland, to participate in Water Survival Training. This is training that all maritime individuals receive and is part of first level training for astronauts before they are even selected as Astronaut Candidates.

We are pleased to announce that the International Space University will be continuing the traditional >Space Studies Program blog!

Over the next nine weeks, our teaching associates, participants and other authors will be highlighting all the great experiences in and outside the classroom and all around Ireland! There will also be loads of behind the scenes with what’s happening at this year's host institution, Cork Institute of Technology.

And, we are very proud to introduce a new digital addition to ISU! Head to your digital app store and download the Int’l space Space University digital application. This is the easiest way to keep up to date with all the news and events happing at this year’s #SSP17!

Ever trained like an astronaut before? Me neither - until now! Myself along with the Space Studies Program participants in the Human Performance in Space Department stretched our worthy sea legs for a day of real water emergency scenarios.

At around noon, we arrived at the National Maritime College of Ireland. The College overlooks the gorgeous Cobh Harbour. The position of this institution is quite fitting as Cobh, formerly known as Queenstown, was the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing off for it’s fateful journey.

Meet the SSP17 Team

Prof. Walter PeetersISU President

Prof. Walter PeetersISU PresidentCareer: Initial management positions in construction and petrochemical industry. Joined the European Space Agency (ESA) in 1983 in a number of project control and management functions, among others in the HERMESFull Biography

Dr. Omar HatamlehISU SSP Director

Dr. Omar HatamlehISU SSP DirectorOmar is the Director of the SSP at ISU. Prior to assuming his new assignment, Omar was the Chief Innovation Officer, Engineering at NASA Johnson Space Center responsible for empowering the organization creative thinking and develop capacity to innovate.Full Biography

Dr. Niall SmithCIT Local Organizing Committeee Lead

Dr. Niall SmithCIT Local Organizing Committeee LeadNiall Smith received his PhD (Astrophysics) from University College Dublin in 1990. In 2006 he was appointed as the first Head of Research with responsibilities for the overall management of an annual Full Biography

Elizabeth TwomeyCIT Local Organizing Committeee Coordinator

Elizabeth TwomeyCIT Local Organizing Committeee CoordinatorReporting directly to the Head of Research, as Senior Research Administrator I act as the principal contact point between the research community and the Research Office. I provide support with respect to Full Biography

Arif Göktuğ KaracalıoğluISU SSP Academic Coordinator

Arif Göktuğ KaracalıoğluISU SSP Academic CoordinatorDuring his secondary school years, everyone was thinking that Göktuğ (a.k.a. G2) will excel in literature and become a writer. But nope, he had surprised them all by picking “science” as his primary discipline and this was the beginning of his technical career. Full Biography

Sébastien BessatISU SSP Logistics Coordinator

Sébastien BessatISU SSP Logistics CoordinatorSébastien is an IT professional with skills in databases management and web development, holding a DUT in Computer Sciences. IT support was his main assignment in different positions for DARTY, Paris-Bercy, and Alcoa, St Cosme, France. Full Biography

Géraldine MoserISU Head of Business Development Unit

Géraldine MoserISU Head of Business Development Unit

Joel HerrmannISU IT Services Manager

Joel HerrmannISU IT Services Manager

SSP17 Academic Team

Prof. Chris WelchCore Chair

Prof. Chris WelchCore ChairChris has been orbiting ISU since he first met founders Peter Diamandis and Todd Hawley in 1987. In 2011, after two decades in UK academia, Chris moved to ISU in Strasbourg to become Professor of Spacecraft Engineering and Program Director of ISU’s Masters. SSP17 will be his eleventh SSP. Full Biography

Dr. Geoffrey SteevesCore Chair

Dr. Geoffrey SteevesCore ChairDr. Geoff Steeves is a physics professor at the University of Victoria and a faculty member at the International Space University. He is a co-founder of the StarAcers science education program and a top 16 finalist in Canada's 2008/09 astronaut recruitment campaign. Full Biography

Dr. Niamh ShawAssociate Core Chair

Dr. Niamh ShawAssociate Core ChairDr. Niamh Shaw, an engineer, scientist and performer is passionate about awakening people’s curiosity, merging performance and theatre with communication, engineering, science, art, and technology. She is interested in pushing boundaries in telling the human story behind science, particularly through Space themes, creating science events for both family and arts audiences. Full Biography

Dr. Su-Yin TanSpace Applications DepartmentChair

Dr. Su-Yin TanSpace Applications Dept. ChairDr. Su-Yin Tan is a Senior Lecturer in the Geomatics Program and Director of the Applied Geomatics Research Laboratory at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She is a Faculty Member and chairs the Academic Council of the International Space University (ISU) Full Biography

Prof. Dennis IrwinSpace Engineering DepartmentChair

Prof. Dennis IrwinSpace Engineering Dept. ChairDennis Irwin became dean of the Fritz J. and Dolores H. Russ College of Engineering and Technology at Ohio University in July 2002. Irwin was chair of the College’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1997 to 2002. He was selected as the school's Outstanding Graduate Instructor and Outstanding Undergraduate Instructor three times each. Full Biography

Dr. Ana Diaz ArtilesHuman Performance in Space DepartmentChair

Dr. Ana Diaz ArtilesHuman Performance in Space Dept. ChairDr. Ana Diaz Artiles (SSP10) is a lecturer and research associate at the Sibley School for Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering at Cornell University. Her interests focus on the biomedical and human factors aspects Full Biography

Ruth McAviniaSpace Humanities DepartmentChair

Ruth McAviniaSpace Humanities Dept. ChairA native of County Meath, Ruth studied Drama and Modern Irish at the University of Dublin, Trinity College, and Film and Television Studies at the University of Glasgow in Scotland. She worked in radio and national television news, as well as live sports commentary, for a number of years before deciding to retrain in science communication. Full Biography

Eric DahlstromSpace Sciences DepartmentChair

Eric DahlstromSpace Sciences Dept. ChairMr. Eric Dahlstrom is co-founder of International Space Consultants, and is a space science and space engineering consultant. He studied the physics of black holes at University of North Carolina, galactic astronomy at the University of Maryland, and space systems engineering at George Washington University. Full Biography

Remco TimmermansSpace Management and Business DepartmentCo-Chair

Remco TimmermansSpace Management and Business Dept. Co-ChairRemco Timmermans (1970) is a leading social media specialist for the space industry, developing successful social media marketing campaigns for clients all over the world. Remco founded and leads two very Full Biography

Daniel RockbergerSpace Management and Business DepartmentCo-Chair

Daniel RockbergerSpace Management and Business Dept. Co-ChairI was born in London England and moved with my family to Israel in 1981 where I went through the entire education system including my undergraduate degree of Mechanical Engineering at the Full Biography

Dr. Ray WilliamsonSpace Policy, Economics & Law DepartmentChair

Dr. Ray WilliamsonSpace Policy, Economics & Law Dept. ChairRay A. Williamson is retired from Secure World Foundation, where he served as Executive Director between 2007 and 2012 and Senior Advisor until 2014. Previously, he was Research Professor of Space Policy and Full Biography

Dr. Timiebi AganabaSpace Policy, Economics & Law Dept.Associate ChairPreviously the Executive Director of the World Space Week Association, coordinating the global response to the UN-declared World Space Week, Timiebi is currently undertaking a fellowship in the InternationalFull Biography

Dr. Daniel GloverTP "The Future of ISS"Chair

Dr. Daniel GloverTP "The Future of ISS" ChairDaniel R. Glover, Jr. holds an MBA from Cleveland State University and a Ph.D. in system engineering from the University of Toledo. Dr. Glover is a retired NASA engineer where he worked on projects such as the Galileo mission to Jupiter, cryogenic fluid management research, and satellite networking. Full Biography

Dr. Jan Walter SchroederTP "The Future of ISS"Associate Chair

Dr. Jan Walter SchroederTP "The Future of ISS" AssociateChairWalter’s background is in Biomedical Engineering with a focus on human-machine interfaces and neuroscience. Walter studied Medical Informatics in Heidelberg/Heilbronn and wrote his master thesis in Taipeh, Taiwan (ROC) developing a new method for 3D dynamic.Full Biography

Gary MartinTP "Entrepreneurial and Innovation Ecosystem for Space" Co-ChairMr. Gary L. Martin is the Director of Partnerships at Ames Research Center. In this position he oversees public-private and international partnerships for the Center and NASA’s Small Full Biography

Dr. Norah PattenTP "Entrepreneurial and Innovation Ecosystem for Space" Co-ChairDr. Norah Patten is a faculty member at the International Space University and is the founder and director of a start-up company in Ireland which specialises in using space as Full Biography

Robert HillTP "Roadmaps and Strategies for Space Sector National Capacity Building" Co-Chair

Robert HillTP "Roadmaps and Strategies for Space Sector National Capacity Building" Co-ChairRobert Hill is the Director of the Northern Ireland Space Office and chair of the Northern Ireland Space Special Interest Group (NISSIG) hosted by the UK Aerospace, Defence, Security Full Biography

Dr. Ed ChesterTP "Roadmaps and Strategies for Space Sector National Capacity Building" Co-ChairEd’s academic background includes a BSc in Physics, MSc in Electronics and PhD in Computer Arithmetic and Signal Processing. Much of the time that this all represents was spent on Full Biography

Joseph PellegrinoTP "The Future of Internet of Things and Their Applicability to Space" Chair

Joseph PellegrinoTP "The Future of Internet of Things and Their Applicability to Space" ChairJoe graduated in Mechanical Engineering from Texas A&M University. His first assignment was at the NASA Johnson Space Center as a contractor with Boeing, where he trained crews of several successful Space Shuttle missions in various simulators and the neutral buoyancy pool. Full Biography

Carol CarnettSpace English Access Course Lead

Carol CarnettSpace English Access Course LeadCarol Carnett holds a graduate level certification in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. She concentrates her work on English communication skills for professionals in the academic, administrative, and technical sectors of the space community, and continues training in her field through additional advanced degree programs. Full Biography

Host Institution

Cork Institute of Technology (CIT) is situated on the picturesque south coast of Ireland. The roots of CIT stretch back to the Royal Cork Institution which existed from 1807 until 1861 from whence we get our culture of putting knowledge to work for the good of our students and the society we serve.

Today, CIT is distributed over four campuses with a total student enrolment of 12,000 and 850 academic staff. The Bishopstown Campus is the largest of our campuses, located within easy reach of Cork City Centre. It is home to the faculties of Engineering and Science, Business and Humanities. This campus boasts extensive facilities including lecture theatres, laboratories, a library, research centres, shops, running tracks, tennis courts, all-weather and grass pitches and a gymnasium.

Two of our other campuses are in the City Centre itself – the School of Music and the Crawford College of Art and Design – whilst the National Maritime College of Ireland is sited on the shores of Cork Harbour, the second largest natural harbour in the world. CIT also operates Ireland’s only space-themed science and discovery centre at Blackrock Castle Observatory.

The Institute graduates the largest number of professionally accredited engineers in Ireland every year and has particular research strengths in embedded networked systems (where the Nimbus Centre is Ireland’s largest research centre devoted to Internet of Things research), photonics, life sciences, entrepreneurship, competitiveness and innovation. The CIT Rubicon Incubation Centre supports the development of 57 start-up companies at any one time and CIT researchers have spun out 4 companies in the last two years establishing the Institute as an innovation leader.

CIT’s ability to anticipate change has been central to our growth and our support for all our stakeholders. As we enter a new era where our nation’s industries look for new markets for their products and processes, it is fitting that we are hosting SSP17.